Young Americans

People are describing this as white boy soul. Maybe that’s why I like it so much.

Bowie/5

Simply fantastic.

Enjoyable!

Even better than I remembered.

I wonder how many cigarettes David Bowie smoked, total--500,000? 4 keepers in 8 (50%).

Okay but like enough with the Bowie, jfc. Probably my least favorite of his so far.

#261 I love that Bowie has a presence on this list. This is not my favorite Bowie record by a long shot though. There are hits on here but a couple of ones I skip regularly. Overall it has a cool sound through. Tracks like Fascination are a good example. Biggest Hit - Fame Biggest Miss - Can You Hear Me Not So Hidden Gem - Right

A very, very good album by Bowie! The introduction of "blue-eyed soul" is something that seems obvious today but changed everything then. The album has a nice cover of "Across the Universe" and opens and closes with absolutely great tracks. I'm not sure if this is Bowie's best album, but it's up there!

Nice, chill. Bops well

Another Bowie album. Trying so hard to not let the production affect my review but I can’t imagine how good this would be if it were recorded today. Solid album.

I’m just not a Bowie fan. Yeah it’s a Bowie album. It’s got the nice , sax, high budget, production, etc. I just don’t like Bowie’s vocals. I cannot take him seriously he sounds like he is constantly straining and forcing this weird, unique vocal structure that just kind of pisses me off.

Really enjoyed this one. I get the criticism of cultural appropriation/this being “fake” soul, but it’s still a Bowie album, and I think this style fits his vocals really well and I find it much more accessible than his glam albums. Fantastic session performances as well, the band absolutely killed it.

it's alright..can't see myself rushing back to it... but it's better than tin machine!

Love Bowie and Fame is a killer song, but I would’ve enjoyed it more with a bit less Lennon

Disappointingly ordinary 😕

Great

So turns out Young Americans is just the best song of all time, huh?

An experiment in "cultural crossover," Bowie walks right up to the line of appropriating Black culture, but doesn't quite cross it. After some googling I found that he was intentional, equitable and ahead of his time in this regard. However, I still didn't like the album. Bowie's "Plastic Soul" descriptor is apt, as the music felt thin and disposable, and as I said - on the edge of appropriative. I love Fame though, and the Beatles cover was great. 4/10

I don’t expect anything other than fun when I listen to the iconic David Bowie and this delivered.

David Bowie - Young Americans An album of mediocrity bookended by two great tracks. Written in the studio, apparently, and it shows. So many songs just trail off to averageness despite the great line up. Bowie's first foray to 'dirty' soul helped him crack the States but I don't think he got the sound right until he listed the assistance of true master Nile Rodgers on the Let's Dance album. Best Track - Fame just pips the title track. Worst Track - That honkingly bad cover of Across the Universe 5.5/10 Would probably be higher for anyone else but Bowie sets his own standards 😉

I would really like to give this 3-1/2. There were some songs I really liked (Young Americans, Win), but then a lot of it was just forgettable.

some glorious songs, but Across the Universe is limp and jarring.

3/5. One of the weaker 70’s Bowie albums in my opinion. Bowie himself called the style of this album “Plastic Soul” and that is an apt description. It is a genuine swing at a soul album done by a man who clearly loved the genre and had a lot of respect for its artists, but it doesn’t stand up to any of the 70’s soul greats nor does it really stand up to Bowies early 70’s glam stuff or late 70’s art-rock stuff. That being said it’s also by no means a bad album, there’s a few standout tracks here like the opener “Young Americans” which are fantastic. John Lennon is also here, as he helped co-write “Fame” and provided backing vocals and guitar work on Bowies cover of “Across the Universe.” A case where I can see why the album is here, as “Fame” was one of Bowie’s first hits to land in the U.S., but at the same time I’d take most of his other 70’s output over Young Americans any day.

One of maybe 3 no skip Bowie albums (and I'm a Bowie fanatic)

Не мой любимый явно

David Bowie does soul music way better than you'd think, but he also has so many far superior works. Fame is so good though Favorite Songs: Young American, Fascination, Fame

Love Bowie. His white boy soul era is not my favorite, but this is still a solid record. 'Fame' is an awesome song.

Eh, not really my kind of music. Fame is good, and its all delivered well. 2 stars

An unlistenable cover of Across the Universe. The low point of the album for me, but not by much. I continue to not understand the Bowie obsession. Half point back for 'Fame', which is excellent. Rating: 2

No matter how many Bowie albums you throw at me, I simply won’t like his voice and music im afraid

Disco bem legal, bem curto mas que entrega algo bem sólido. Tem a primeira música que me lembrou muito um samba, tem música com um ar bem sensual, tem muito jazz bem harmonizado com a canção. Conheço pouco do Bowie mas imagino que seja um disco bem diferente do usual. Adoro os cânticos femininos que dão um ar de música de igreja.

Classic album

Great background vocals. Probably some of David Bowie's best singing performances as well.

Loved it. 10/10 < 3

love bowie

Young Americans and Fame go a long way on this album. They say it’s a tribute to Philly soul, but I’d say it’s equally a love letter to the Beatles, the cover, the borrowed lyrics, John Lennon is in there somewhere

More like a 2.5, respectably mid, some good songs but overall not the best representation of soul, as even Bowie agreed with.

Kinda dull and repetitive. Not his strongest record.

I don’t get bowie

Funk and gospel elements were fun here, particularly on the opener 'Young Americans' or the groovy 'Fame', yet Bowie's vocals feel slightly messy and exaggerated across this project. 'Let's Dance', an album which came slightly later in Bowie's discography, keeps that funky, groovy magic alive while showcasing more strategic vocal modulation and skill ('China Girl'). It's a project I much prefer, also due it its lack of covers. The one of 'Across the Universe' here was not very good, I think I would have preferred some more original songs from Bowie showcasing a different kind of lyricism. Perhaps the more emotive kind, like in 'As the World Falls Down', or 'I can't give everything away' which is a devastating track from much later in Bowie's discography. I don't regret listening to 'Young Americans' as it is a brilliant album from an iconic artist, but unfortunately it was one which I don't think fully showcased Bowie's charisma, songwriting and vocal abilities!

A fine album with bangers at the front and end

Really nice record. It’s obvious why Bowie is on this project list so much. He has such a captivating style and precedent. His songwriting, vocals and accompanying production make for a well-rounded and versatile mix of sound. What a mark he left on the world. RIP.

Idk I didn’t like it too much, really good production but like nothing new

Good album, but not my favorite Bowie.

being stricter with this one as i know there is much more bowie to come; it was fine, but i don't really see myself going back to it anytime soon aside from fame

Enjoyed it more than expected. Nobody needs that cover of Across the Universe though. The two best songs bookend this album. I’d listen again.

This is a great album with so many great R&B/English Pop songs. All-time classic. Pitchfork: 8.7 (retrospective rating 2016) Rolling Stone: n/a Best Songs Young Americans Win Somebody Up There Likes Me Across the Universe Fame

Obviously, love the title track and Fame, but there's so much more. Every Bowie album has it's own sound. Unique yet, on the mark for the time. Music + Art, colliding. Album highlight: Cover of Across the Universe

I usually rate Bowie pretty highly but the "blue-eyed soul" style on Young Americans isn't my favorite mode of his. Still a fine album. Highlight: "Across the Universe" (Fiona Apple's cover will probably always be my favorite version of this song, but Bowie's take did start growing on me over a few plays).

Overrated

Tired of this guy. At least this album had the song 'Fame' which I've heard in the passing before.

3.94 out of 5 stars for Young Americans. I'm bumping this to 5 stars because Bowie is Bowie. Simple as that. This album is full of soul, funk, and he brought in an all star backing band to help him make this record one of the best in his whole catalog. A lot of Bowie fans I know dislike this album a lot, but I enjoy it immensely. Bowie was coming off an incredibly successful glam rock period and could have easily kept making variations of Ziggy Stardust and Diamond Dogs. Instead, he went to Philadelphia, surrounded himself with exceptional soul musicians, and reinvented himself again, as he was the master of doing that.

I've heard better Bowie albums. I love his creativity and his ability to re-invent himself, and I think this album has some great tracks. But as a whole, the album is just better than average.

Dober

I’m sorry. But this is bad. This is a bad album. David Bowie's flirtation with genres like pop and soul will never not be interesting, take the fact that he was the first white musician to be featured on Soul Train, for example. And there are some great songs on here! Which I'll get to. But I'll also, unfortunately, get to the songs on here that suck and are awful. And are why this album is bad. So, to start! "Young Americans" is fabulous. Sensational, even. Backing vocals: great. Performance: great. That outro especially, where the background singers reference "A Day In The Life," it's so absurd and crazy, I love it. "Win" is great, except for Bowie's awful singing performance, which kinda sucks. Bowie has some great vocal performances (see: "Let's Dance," "Station to Station," "Soul Love," etc.), but this is assuredly not one of them. It's a fine song, but vaguely tragic for how good it could have been, had David Bowie given an adequate performance. "Fascination" is funky, likeable, and well-made. I don't see any real reason to dislike it, just because of how good it generally is. Not great, don't get me wrong, but good. "Right" sounds good, but then David starts making these weird sounds and it kinda falls apart for me. That being said, it's kinda okay. The impression going into the second side is that it's a fine, if underwhelming soul album by a king of music. Side B starts with a song that's in character for the album: "Somebody Up There Likes Me," too long, unfocused, annoying. Not awful, I enjoy parts of it, it's just sooooooooooo long, and it sounds like the outro starts 3 and a half minutes into it. The song is 6 and a half minutes long. It's so long. Too long. But, groovy. Fun. And a stone-cold masterpiece compared to the song that comes next. David Bowie's rendition of "Across The Universe" is still one of the worst things I've ever heard (John Lennon apparently liked it, but John Lennon also made "Woman Is The N***** Of The World," so his opinion is void). The vocal performance is ugly, disgustingly bad, melodramatic for no good reason, the beat is tepid and annoying, the Hindu chant is replaced with a comparatively annoying guitar line, the contentedness of the original is replaced with this dazed passion, which I hate to my core, UGH. Everything about this song is unforgivable. It brings the entire score down by a point. I hate this song And whaddya know, the next song sucks too! I don't like the strings very much, I don't love the performance, I don't love a lot of things about it. I'm kinda inconsolable after that last song though, so. Ask someone else about it. Thankfully "Fame" is fucking awesome. It's my cousin's favorite Bowie song, and one of the two contenders for a great song on this entire album. It's funky, it's energetic, it's manic, it's crazy, I love it. So, Bowie's soul album. Bad. Two great songs, one terrible song, and a bunch of boring songs in between. Does it belong here? I don't think so. Listen to the two big songs, both of which are huge and are on any self-respecting Bowie compilation, and you'll get the gist. Do this many Bowie albums even belong on the list? Probably not. The Next Day certainly doesn't. And despite this one's significance, its quality does not live up to the hype, sadly. 4.4/10 DOES IT BELONG ON THE LIST: NO REASON: No one deserves to have to listen to that rendition of "Across The Universe." WHAT WOULD I REPLACE IT WITH: Let's Dance by David Bowie (An actually GOOD pop Bowie album!)

Good but not my favorite David Bowie album.

Bowie has been my favorite big name discovery from this list, but this is album is a little too cheesy for me. It's got some amazing songs, but everything including the more whatever songs in between are just slathered in cheesy 70s Hotel lobby sax-y R&B that just feels too dated.

Nice blue eyed soul

This is an excellent album (another one by Bowie). When I first listened to this album (years ago), I had some reservations (I'm not a huge fan of soul and R&B). However, I find Bowie's approach to the genre really different and interesting. Some songs I particularly enjoy: " Young Americans", "Fame", "Win" (my favourite in the album), "Right", or "Can You Hear Me?". This is between 4 and 5 stars. I'd say it would be easily 5 stars if not for "Across The Universe" (I love The Beatles, and that song, but I don't really see the merits of this cover).

3 stars

If “Fame” and the title track won’t get you to four stars, what will? Also, that “Across the Universe” cover is pretty sweet!

Bowie did his homework on soul and funk, but it still doesn't hit different. Common gripe I have across all albums is that some songs just go on too long. "Fame" feels the most authentic out of the other tracks.

Bowie soul album. Liked it better than station.

Fame and Across the Universe are great

Good album but not great, track sequencing odd Fame shouldn't close, if anything should have opened the album, Beatles cover a bit hammy.

The 70s just... don't do it for me on this one

4.5

Such a ridiculously good album. David Bowie voice and vibe just makes every track. The obvious hits, Young Americans and Fame, speak for themselves. But his cover of Across the Universe shows what he is capable of adding to a known track. My other favorites were: Fascination, Right, and Can You Hear Me.

It's Bowie so I can't hate it. It's more just ok in my book, mostly enjoyable but I'm unlikely to revisit it in the same way as Hunky Dory, or Low, or Ziggy. Maybe some could argue about the influence the album had but that's not for me to judge. It's pleasant enough basically. 27/09/26

My seventh Bowie album on here. Ridiculous, really. This wasn’t bad. Never heard this album before, despite being familiar with most of his catalogue. Doubt I’d revisit again, but it was entertaining enough.

This feels like one of the albums that sounds pleasant, but I can't remember what happened during it. That is, though, partly a good thing as it shows the coherency of the album.

groot bowie fan maar dit is matig

Man šis ne līdz galam, un Lady Grinning Soul joprojām vislabaka vina dziesma

BabaBowie

Ihan letkeää ”plastic soulia”. Young Americans oli tuttu ennestään. Sopivan laidback musaa rauhallisin hetkiin. Taustalaulut oli erittäin taitavia ja mukavaa kuunneltavaa. The Beatles laina ”Across The Universe” oli myös tuttu.

Somebody up There Likes Me... what a tune. The rest is great aswell.

# Album Name: Young Americans # Artist: David Bowie # Rating: 5/5 # Comments: Really enjoyed this album. Couple of great songs like fam and young americans with a few good ones. I get why they say its plastic soul. Could of done without the beatles cover tbf. It took away from the album if anything. # Top Tunes: Young americans / win / fascination / somebody up there likes me / fame # Would I listen to it again? Yes

This album really showcases Bowie’s ability to adapt to different styles of music and still pull it off in a complementary way. Bowie wanted to do his own reinterpretation of American Soul and R&B music. The production is sleek and polished, with a sophisticated approach and complex rhythms. He also worked with a lot of great musicians, including one of my favorites, Mike Garson.

Fantastic

Young Americans David Bowie 1975 Genres: Rock, Soul Styles: Art Rock, Glam, Pop Rock 1. Young Americans (★★★★★) -Contexto: Bowie la definió como la historia de una pareja de recién casados que no saben si realmente se quieren ("lo hacen, pero no saben si lo hacen o no", dijo). Sobre esa base sentimental monta un fresco de la América post-Watergate: menciona a Nixon (renunciado apenas días antes de grabar el tema), alude al macartismo con la frase sobre "ser antiamericano", y a la segregación racial y el Movimiento por los Derechos Civiles. Es la mirada de un inglés sobre EE.UU., mezclando ternura, cinismo y una sensación de agotamiento colectivo, todo envuelto en un arreglo de soul con saxo protagónico. -Fav 2. Win (★★★★★) -Contexto: Bowie la calificó como una canción para "levantarte del sillón". Es un mantra de soul lento que repite frases motivacionales genéricas del tipo "llevá tu herida con honor" o "hacé que alguien se sienta orgulloso". Varios análisis leen ironía en ese optimismo: la promesa de "ganar" suena tan vacía como los clichés de las películas deportivas, como si el propio cantante desconfiara del consuelo que ofrece. -Fav -Frisson 3. Fascination (★★★★★) -Contexto: Nace de un tema del entonces desconocido Luther Vandross, "Funky Music (Is a Part of Me)", que Bowie reescribió con nueva letra (fue el primer crédito de coautoría de Vandross). Sobre una base funk con bajo insinuante, la letra describe una obsesión creciente por alguien: cuanto más se resiste el narrador, más lo consume ese deseo, hasta que el estribillo se convierte en un grito casi descontrolado de la palabra "fascination". 4. Right (★★★★★) -Contexto: Bowie la describió como "un zumbido positivo, un mantra". Musicalmente está más cerca de estructuras de acordes europeas que del R&B estadounidense clásico, aunque suena a soul en su textura. Es la canción más despojada de mensaje "político" del lado A: funciona por repetición hipnótica y sensación de estar bien, de encontrar una "rectitud" (right) casi como estado de ánimo más que como idea concreta. 5. Somebody Up There Likes Me (★★★★★) -Contexto: Bowie fue explícito sobre esta: la describió como una advertencia de que "Hitler está por volver", su "bit sociológico de rock and roll". El tema retrata a un líder carismático, casi mesiánico, adorado por las masas y fabricado por los medios ("hijo salvaje del tubo de TV"), anticipando cómo la política puede apropiarse de los mecanismos del estrellato. Bowie venía obsesionado con superhombres y dictadores desde Ziggy Stardust, y acá lo vuelve explícito. -Fav 6. Across the Universe (★★★★☆) -Contexto: Versión del tema de John Lennon/Beatles, grabada con el propio Lennon tocando guitarra e invitado por Bowie a la sesión de enero de 1975. Bowie dijo que le gustaba la canción pero no le convencía cómo había quedado su versión; el propio Lennon calificó el original de los Beatles como "muy aguado" y contó que quería "darle con todo". Es, junto con Fame, la única grabación del disco con Lennon en la banda. 7. Can You Hear Me (★★★★★) -Contexto: Bowie la llamó una "verdadera canción de amor", escrita pensando en alguien puntual a quien nunca identificó públicamente. Es una balada de soul azul (blue-eyed soul) más introspectiva y vulnerable que el resto del disco, con arreglos de cuerdas y coros góspel que refuerzan el tono de súplica emocional del título: pregunta directa, casi desesperada, a esa persona no nombrada. -Fav 8. Fame (★★★★★) -Contexto: Nació de una jam entre Bowie, Carlos Alomar y John Lennon sobre un riff que Alomar venía tocando; Lennon aportó el gancho vocal y el título. Bowie la describió como "nasty, angry" (mala leche, furiosa), escrita con cierta malicia dirigida a su representante de entonces, Tony Defries, y a la empresa MainMan, en medio de pleitos legales por el manejo de su dinero. Lennon y Bowie habían pasado noches enteras hablando sobre lo hueco y destructivo de la fama, y eso quedó volcado letra por letra: "lo que te gusta está en la limusina, lo que conseguís es que no hay mañana, lo que necesitás lo tenés que pedir prestado". -Fav -TOTAL = ★★★★⯨ (4,88)

#479/1001. It's Bowie again pretending to be a soul artist with one or two good songs.

I enjoyed 1 or 2 songs, overall an ok album. Not the worst of his but also not the best 8 Bowie albums - am I done yet?? 3 ⭐️

Always an interesting experiment - do I like David Bowie's music or not? This is the third album I this list has given me so far, and it comes out as a 3. I like some of the tracks (opening title track and Fame), but waaay too much saxaphone for me, (hell's eternal waiting room/on hold music). It's good to know what you like and what you're not into.

Really good Bowie

Quality.

why is most of his stuff shit?

One or two good songs on show here.

An album without the big hits but smooth from beginning to end. I like the cover of “Across The Universe“. (Listened to it on Apple Music)

be so fr, it's literally david bowie

Bowie doing Philly soul, eh? Never heard the whole album before but very familiar with the title track and Fame. The cover of Across The Universe is ass (don’t care if Lennon liked it!!!), but the rest is alright, probably the best of the rest is Somebody Up There Likes Me. I’d probably give this 3.5 if I could, but it is only getting a 3 today.

Enjoyed parts of the album, feels like a heavy Beatles influence, especially considering it features a cover of Across the Universe. Also, with Young Americans where the backing singers say 'I heard the news today, oh boy'. All in all I would say my favourite songs on the album are: - Young Americans - Right

Listening to this made me think of Cameron Crowe’s stories of Bowie in the 70’s. The persona’s and characters Bowie portrays in each and every song. An incredibly interesting person who never coloured inside the lines. This album highlights how much he conveys his emotions or distances himself from them. It is quirky, much like the man himself and I am impressed with what D.B and many others can create considering how freakin high they were at the time. Yes, I understand that the consumption of the music around them and the lifestyle, the drugs , are the energy systems that turns on the tap for creativity to flow but how they refine it and are coherent enough to even note the tracks down to turn them into anything blows my mind. Would I buy this record if I saw it in the $5 bargain bin - Yes, again for the nostalgia of the 70’s era and for everything David Bowie was to human history.

David Bowie — Young Americans Pre-listening: looking over the setlist, there’s plenty to learn and some recognizable. Best: Fame Runner-Up: Across the Universe Third: Fascination Post-listening: LOTS OF SOUND. Felt very swaggy and not as much artistry in how I’ve heard Bowie in my limited listening experience. It was an entertaining album but an overwhelming one if you’re not ready for it. I don’t know why but I completely forgot that he wrote Fame. Even though the rest of the album wasn’t my type of music that song saved the experience for me. Rating: 6/10 Stars: 3/5

David Bowie had many faces, and each and every one of them was fascinating, including this one.

All I hear about Bowie is that he was such a star and whatnot. But the first 5 tracks here just sounds to me like he REALLY wanted to be a late-60s black soul singer. After that it's back to the regular Bowie repertoire. I don't think this is so great to be honest.

David Bowie is a ‘black hole’ in my music knowledge. Given my musical interests, I should care more, but I don’t. However this album was by far the best Bowie album I’ve listened to. It hasn’t made me a fan, but it definitely made me appreciate his music more. 4/5

50+ years old but still sounds relevant and fresh, Bowie rocks

Tbh this is a classic, it's not comparable to the great soul records but it's kind of playful and meta, the next one does all of it much better